Reprucussions
by Narek
Summary: All actions have consequences and Willow and Xander are about to find out about that first hand.


Buffy the Vampire Slayer Fanfiction: Repercussions

_Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or anything associated with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. _

**Buffy the Vampire Slayer Fanfiction: Repercussions**

Willow's dreams were fitful and she was tossing and turning. Her dreams were full of the pain and sorrow that she had gone through. She had lost the love of her life, Tara Benson and after that she had gone to the dark side, literally. She had started it by killing the Osiris demon, a gatekeeper that could have brought Tara back but didn't. She had killed him in her rage and from there she had hurt her best friends. After all of that, murder was easy; she took her brand of vengeance on the man that had killed Tara. She killed him and took pleasure in it. That wasn't all either; she had even tried to end the world, to end all the suffering. The only thing that could have saved her was the love and caring of her closet friend, Xander. He had risked his own life to show her that no matter what she did to him, he would still love her. She could have killed him and it wouldn't have made any difference, he would still love her. It was that fortitude that had gotten through to her and saved her life. Although he had brought her back from the brink, that didn't erase what she had done. It still affected her and she still dreamt of the pain she had inflicted on others. The dreams, at times, got very bad that she woke up stifling a scream as she did today. She had to take a few deep breaths to calm her nerves and then she looked around. She was back home in Sunnydale, the Hellmouth, after having spent a lot of time in England recovering after what happened. She now lived with her best friend Buffy Summers, the Vampire Slayer, in her home along with Buffy's sister, Dawn. They both had been very supportive through everything and so had the others, including Xander who had been with her every step of the way since she got back. She didn't know what she would do without any of her friends.

The day passed smoothly for Willow. She helped with the house chores and then did her own things. Toward the end of the day, the Scooby gang assembled to discuss the latest demon and vampire uprisings. Nothing unusual was on the horizon or happening at the moment but they still came together to not only talk about those things but to just hang out. They didn't get to do that very often, at least, not as much as they used to when they were all in high school together. Now that they were grown up and had their own lives, they had their own priorities. They were currently discussing these going ons while Willow, having not slept well before, was dozing. She must have fell asleep because all of sudden she got a flash of many faces that seemed to be coming at her, angrily. They also began saying things in a weird language and dialect. There was only one word that seemed to come out that she could recognize.

"Murderer!" they yelled. They came at her so fast that she woke up screaming. Everyone was taken off guard and they stood up to stare at her.

"What the hell was that?" Buffy asked, looking at her very concerned.

"It was nothing, just a nightmare," she said, trying to get her head together.

"That was some nightmare," Dawn replied.

"Yeah, I haven't been sleeping well lately, but it'll pass, I'm sure," she said, but they all looked at her oddly, "really, it's okay." She may have said all of that, but they didn't seem convinced.

"Willow, are you sure you're okay?" Xander asked and with the look in eyes, his deep concern for her, she had to smile.

"Really, I'm okay," she said and they both shared a look.

"Anyway, maybe you should try to get some rest, you know, make something in your Wiccan ways to prevent dreams so that you won't have nightmares," Buffy suggested and Willow thought about that.

"Maybe you're right, are you sure you don't need me?" she asked.

"No, we're good here, go get some sleep," Buffy said after looking around to the others who nodded agreeably.

"Yeah Willow, you should go, you do look really bad," Anya said and Willow rolled her eyes. That comment was so Anya, so she didn't really pay it much mind. She then left to go up to her room. Once there, she thought about doing what Buffy had suggested and making a potion or something. She was thinking about what she could put in it when all of sudden she felt a cold breeze. She tensed and waited only a moment before turning around and coming face to face with one of the faces from her dreams.

"What…who are you?" she stammered.

"Witch Willow, judgment for you has come, the tribunal has spoken," the individual said and Willow was confused.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, "judgment for what?"

"You are a murderer," he said and Willow took a few steps back, your murder of Osiris can not go without repercussions."

"I know, and I am sorry about what I did to him, but I am paying my penance for killing him, I'm doing all I need to make up for it," Willow said, but the demon didn't flinch.

"A mortal's life is inconsequential to us; we are concerned with our brethren, the one you killed in your vengeance for your lover, you must pay for his death murderer, in the worst way possible," he said and they then confronted each other. Willow could feel the demon's power and even though they was powerful, she was also. As she looked at him, she knew that he didn't have the power to kill her.

"I am sorry and you can do whatever you want to me, I won't stop you, I deserve this." At that, the demon smiled.

"How self sacrificing of you and that is all well and good but we want you to suffer, and yes, I know what you're thinking, I alone can't kill you, but I can with my fellow brethren."

"Then why don't you and your brethren just kill me?" Willow asked.

"Because we don't want you dead, at least, not at first, first we want you to suffer and we thought long and hard about what to do, when it came to us we knew it could cause problems but we don't care, your suffering is more important to us than repercussions."

"What are you talking about?" Willow asked and right then, there was a crash from downstairs and both Willow and the demon looked towards the door.

"Apparently things are already in play," he said and he smiled at Willow who just stared seriously at him before running downstairs to which the demon didn't stop her. When she got downstairs, she saw two of the other demons from her dream attacking everyone. Buffy was putting up one hell of a fight, but they didn't seem to be concerned with her. They were just throwing everyone out of the way and making their way to only one person. Willow saw it before anyone else did, they were after Xander. Willow tried to get to him and when Buffy noticed that they were after Xander, she tried to get to him too. He was fighting off some of them when he was caught off guard and knocked many feet away, unconscious. The demons then started toward him but Buffy and Willow got to them first. They fought as hard as they could, but then, to their surprise, others came and now there were too many. Before they knew it, they were all thrown away and the demons were between them and Xander.

"What do you want?" Buffy demanded and the lead demon smiled.

"Maybe your witch can you, but for the moment," he said as he looked back at Xander's unconscious form, "we have what we came for so." Right then, he and the others disappeared before they could be stopped and they took Xander with them.

As Buffy and the others picked up the pieces of what happened, Willow filled them in on what they had said to her and why they had taken just Xander. Buffy in particular was visibly upset as was everyone but Willow could tell Buffy was the one she would have to worry about saying something. Buffy, as the Slayer, saw it as her job to protect her friends and she hadn't done it very well, at least, to her. However, she was in her protection mode and wanted to do whatever she could to get Xander back.

"Okay, we need to research, now that we know who they are, we need to know how to kill them and get Xander back," Buffy replied.

"First, we need to find out where they took Xander," Dawn replied, "I'll get on that." She then went to where they kept the books and as she did so, Buffy couldn't help but be proud. She had seen Dawn go through so much and come out a young woman whom she could be very proud of. As things were, Dawn was one of the best at research. As Dawn got the books and began to go through them Buffy went into the kitchen and Willow watched her go. She then took a deep breath as she followed her. Buffy entered the kitchen and when she sensed Willow enter, she turned around.

"Buffy, I'm sorry," Willow said but instead of answering, she just looked annoyed.

"Willow, can we just focus on finding and saving Xander," she said and the way she said it made Willow feel worse and it showed. Buffy noticed it and she felt bad too.

"Look, Willow, I know you're sorry, you made a mistake, it happens, you know how many times it' happened to me," she said and she and Willow shared a look, smiling at each other. They both knew that they had all been through hell before and they each made their share of mistakes. They could laugh about such things now that they were done with but they were serious about what was happening now.

"We're going to find him Willow, don't worry," Buffy said.

"I have to worry, it's Xander," Willow said and Buffy understood. Willow and Xander had been friends their entire lives and they had been through so much together. What was happening now, sort of made it worse. Xander had saved her when she thought that she had gone too far and to be punished for her mistakes was hurting her more than she was willing to admit. As Buffy looked to Willow there was something that she figured that she needed to say seeing as how she was looking.

"Willow, I need you to know, it wasn't your fault," Buffy said and Willow looked to her, "you know, killing Osiris, you were in pain and you did something rash, it happens, hell, how many times has it happened to me." They both knew that it was true but would never say. They had known each other for a long time and they both had been with one another through the many ups and downs. They both sat there in silence for the next few moments before they heard Dawn yell from the other room.

"I think I've got something!" she yelled and they both looked at each other before heading back into the living room.

Once they got back to the living room, they found many books open on the table with Dawn and Anya flipping through them and reading. As they entered, Dawn looked up at them and then reached for a book opened to a particular page.

"You said you found something," Willow said as she and Buffy walked in.

"Yeah, it's right here," she said as she skimmed the pages, "the Tribunal, that's what you called them." Dawn then looked to Willow who nodded and so Dawn went back to the book, "well, it says right here that the Tribunal is a group of uber-demons, so to speak, that are in charge of mystical judicial matters such as what they call rightful judgment." As Dawn read, Willow got even more worried and guilty about what she had done.

"Does it say in there where they live or how to find Xander?" Buffy asked and Dawn looked back to the book.

"Well, it says that they exist outside time and space, so wherever they took Xander I guess that it's going to be very difficult to find and it'll take some powerful magicks." As Dawn said that, they all looked to Willow, since she was the powerful magick user in the house.

"Do you think that you can do this?" Buffy asked since the last time Willow used so much magick she went crazy and killed people. Everyone there knew that Willow was thinking all of that over but then she got a look of determination on her face.

"For Xander, I can do it," she said and they all nodded. With that all decided, they went to find out what kind of spell they would need to transport to the Tribunal's headquarters and hopefully end this once and for all.

Xander's head was extremely groggy and he could hardly open his eyes but when he did, he wished he hadn't. All around him was a kind of mist and in the mist there were the things that had attacked the house. As he awoke and saw them he was taken back and backed away as quickly as he could scoot himself. They had seen him wake up and try to get away from them. They just stared at him for a moment, as if deciding what to do with him. When they didn't answer quick enough, Xander figured that he would say something.

"What do you want?" he asked and they looked at each other before one in particular, a male with a claw like tattoo down the right side of his neck came forward.

"We are the Tribunal and we have judged the witch Willow Rosenberg guilty for the death of Osiris and for that our judgment is punishment." After he said that, Xander looked at him a little confused.

"You mean that gatekeeper guy, what does that have to do with me?" he asked.

"The death of such a powerful being, our brethren, deserves retribution and to punish her, we will strike at her heart. As we have observed one of the closest things to her heart is you, the one who was the only one able to turn her back from her road to darkness." As he spoke, Xander didn't know where this was going and he worried about what these beings could do. He had lived on the Hellmouth long enough to know the kind of evil that lives there and what those things could do to people like him, someone with no abilities to defend himself with. In the past he had always had Buffy or Willow there to help him but now it seemed he was facing these beings alone. He still had hope that the cavalry would come for him but in the mean time, he had to be afraid.

"What are you going to do?" Xander asked finally, knowing that he would have to ask sooner or later. At that time they all looked to one another and then back to Xander.

"Unfortunally for you, Alexander Harris, to punish her, she will have to feel your pain and there's going to be a lot of it," the leader said and he looked Xander right in the eyes just before he raised his hand and Xander was thrown backwards with brutal force.

Willow stopped everything she was doing as she felt a horrible pain in her chest. It was so bad that she cried out a little and everyone else around her stopped what they were doing to look. Buffy saw her and rushed to her side as she looked like she would lose her footing.

"What is it?" she asked as Willow seemed to compose herself a little.

"I just felt some horrible pain and then I saw a flash of Xander, Buffy, I think this pain is connected to him," Willow replied.

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked.

"They said that I was going to suffer but I think that they're punishing him to punish me," Willow replied. Buffy thought about that for a moment and her resolve seemed to harden.

"Okay, we need to find that spell and once we do, we're going there and killing every single one of those things to bring Xander back." Willow agreed with Buffy and thus they rejoined the search for the right teleportation spell. They were close and when they finally found it Willow told them what they would need. They had all that stuff around the house and it only took them a little while to gather it all. However, as they were doing it, Willow had more pain surges and flashes of Xander being the one getting hurt. Every time that it happened, Willow felt worse and it was not just because of the pain but that she knew she was the one causing it. She did however, take Buffy's advice and keep on track to focus on saving Xander. She also tried to listen to Buffy when she said that what was happening was not her fault. It was hard for her not to blame herself but she knew she would have to focus if she was going to save him. When everything was ready, Willow prepared everything that she needed. Buffy, Dawn and Anya were with her and they were all ready for what they knew was to come. The plan was for Buffy and Willow to transport to the Tribunal's location. However, as Willow explained it, their physical bodies would be left behind where Anya and Dawn would watch over them. Willow and Buffy would thus go and with any luck bring Xander back and kill each and every one of the Tribunal. When Buffy suggested the killing, Willow was a little hesitant, but she knew she would do anything that she would need to, to save Xander.

Xander took slow deep breaths as he tried to compose himself after the Tribunal's last onslaught. He had been in pain before but nothing like this and he supposed that, that was the point. He knew that Willow could feel his pain because he could feel it too and he figured that Willow's pain was the main point. He tried to fight them, to stop them but he couldn't they were just too powerful and he was beginning to break. The only thing that was keeping him from breaking was the knowledge that his friends were coming for him. He was thinking that right then when he sensed the leader of the Tribunal come back. When he did, Xander didn't even have to look at him to know what was coming. The leader looked down at him to just stare at him for a moment before speaking up.

"Are you ready?" he asked and waited for Xander's answer which didn't come. Xander would not give this being the satisfaction of seeing how much he was hurting. The leader only waited a moment before he started to concentrate. Xander started to feel more pain but just as he waited for more to come, it stopped. Xander's eyes jutted open and he looked over to see the leader a few feet away on the floor. His eyes went from him to where he used to be standing and it was there that he saw who he had been waiting for, the cavalry, Buffy and Willow. When he did see them, he smiled and then he saw them notice him. As Willow rushed over to him, Buffy stood facing the leader.

"So, you've finally come," he said looking at them.

"If you've been waiting for us, where are your friends?" Buffy asked and the leader grinned.

"Oh, they're here," he said just, as if invisible, the others appeared, "and now, we end this for good." Right then, the others went at Buffy whom they knew they would have to defeat first. The leader himself went towards Willow who got Xander out of the way before she went at him. As a few moments passed, Xander felt recovered enough to try and help Buffy. Buffy had already taken out two of them but she seemed to be having a tough time with the third. That one managed to knock Buffy down and get her in a chokehold. She was fighting back, unsuccessfully until Xander came up from behind them. He managed to knock him off Buffy so he could help her up.

"Thanks," she said as she looked at him and then back to her adversary who was getting back to fighting status. Buffy wasted no time in going at him before he could fully recover. She managed to take him out, breaking his neck before he could react. When he fell, that was all of them and so she could now turn to Willow and the leader who were still fighting. As they watched, it seemed that Willow was holding back and the leader knew it, so he kept pushing harder.

"Come on witch, you can kill me, what are you waiting for!" he yelled as they fought, but still, Willow would not finish him off.

"No, I'm not a killer, why do you want me to be?" she asked and as she looked at him, the answer dawned on her. She had done a lot of reading about the Tribunal while trying to find Xander. She remembered reading something about the rules of the Tribunal. One of the particular rules was of proper judgment and after remembering this, she finally knew why he wanted her to kill him.

"No," she finally said as she lowered her arms and just looked at him, "you want me to kill you because if I do, then more could come and kill me because it would be their right but when I killed Osiris, it was an accident but this, this would be intentionally and I'm not evil, so I'm not going to do that." As Willow spoke, they could see that the leader didn't like what she was saying.

"You sound sure of yourself," he seethed and Willow nodded.

"I am," she said and then she turned away from him and began walking towards Buffy and Xander. The leader just looked at her walk away and his anger showed on his face. However, he didn't make any moves and that just proved that Willow had been right about the judgment. Willow made her way over to Buffy and Xander and she seemed content.

"Let's go home," she said to them and they both heartily agreed. However, before they could leave, the leader seemed to not be done yet.

"You and I are not done Willow Rosenberg, not even close," he said, but Willow didn't even bother to turn around, she just wanted to leave and never come back.

When they got home, Buffy and Willow awoke where they had been when they had said the spell. Xander however had to materialize with a little help from Willow and a spell she had found before they had left. With everyone back and safe, Willow took that time to go up to her room and be alone. However, she wasn't alone forever because Xander knocked on the door. When he came in she was sitting on the bed and so he came and sat next to her. They sat there in silence for only a moment before Willow spoke.

"I'm sorry," she said, "for everything that you had to go through because of me."

"Hey, this wasn't because of you, it was because of those things, you were hurting and you did something stupid, the important thing is, is that you came back and the good you've done far outweighs the bad." After he said that, he smiled at her and his smile was always reassuring to her.

"Thanks," she said and he nudged her shoulder in a friendly way.

"I know you are," he said and with that, they just sat there together and hoped that the future would be okay for everyone from here on out.


End file.
